Drawn to You
by AwkwardTuna
Summary: Toris always considered herself an artist, painting lyrics with her vocal chords, but after a rough summer she finds herself devoid of the will to create. After Cat is badly injured in an accident, Tori takes her place at work and meets a mysterious painter, who just might be the inspiration Tori has been looking for. College AU


CHAPTER 1- SETUP

Tori can't breathe. Or at least it feels like she can't, _has_ felt that way for months now. Although she's comforted by this, because if she's suffocating and everyone else is still breathing, it's nice to know that there's still air around her, that she still has a chance to breathe again. She turns to the T.V., which her sister had given up, eyes full of pity as she descended the stairs; and without any complaint on her end, Trina had given her the remote and cleared the room before Tori could ask if anything interesting was on. So here she was, watching the 8 o'clock news as some blond anchor droned on and on about some art protégé's rising star. The paintings were pretty, but Tori had no idea what to make of them other than that, so she let the T.V.'s chatter drift out of focus into background noise. Catching her eye again as she was close to falling asleep, something on the T.V. catches her attention, her last thought before falling asleep is how the artist is just as beautiful as their paintings; she falls asleep on the couch dreaming of colors so bright she never wants to wake up. In the morning, she forgets about the painter, and heads off to her morning class.

She sees Cat first, her bright red hair acting as a signal to where the rest of her friends are undoubtedly sitting at, and as she approaches them their small talk dies down until its only smiles and a thick tension in the air, her lungs flutter.

"Weren't expecting you back so soon, how are you feeling Tor?", Beck asks. His easygoing smile paired with the loaded question almost makes her want to run, but she's tired of running so she gives them the answers they've been waiting for. Sort of.

"uhm, yeah... The doctor said I was all good to go, just have a few check-ups to take care of and then I'll be as good as new." The words sound unbelievable even coming from her mouth and she doesn't know what to make of it, so she just lets it go and prays that they won't press for more info. Robbie and Cat exchange a look before he reaches out to give Tori a reassuring pat on the back, "well don't you worry about a thing little lady, we've got this class together, so your semester back should be a breeze." Robbie says before gesturing back at Cat," and Cat's got a job on campus, so you'll be seeing her around more than last semester too." You remember that Cat had been a part time student last semester as she worked a job, she'd wanted to put away some money for a new car.

Cat looks up at you after he says that and smiles bigger than before, she reaches in to hug you and you let her. There's a part of you that doesn't want to be touched right now, but another part of you that knows Cat needs this almost as much as you do, so you relax your body and sink into her. She presses tightly against you and for a second you could swear she was sniffling.

"I missed you, I mean we _all_ did, but I just-I'm so glad you're back Tori."

Everyone's quiet at this. She's spoken of the elephant in the room and it can't be ignored anymore, despite Tori's efforts. She glances around at the others, frozen as they wait for her reaction, and she smiles, its slight and it almost drops as soon as it's up but it's just enough to signal to the others that she's alright.

"Yeah. Me too Cat."

The gang rushes her all at once and they're one misstep from a dogpile as they all share similar iterations of Cat's little speech. She feels comfortable enclosed in a mass of hugs, it's not what she was expecting after ghosting all of them this past summer, but its appreciated nonetheless. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breathe, and she feels like she's breathing again.

It isn't until she and Robbie are seated in class when her phone dings with a notification and the oxygen is knocked back out of her.

Class had gone by in a blur after that, and Robbie's usually pleasant chatter was useless to console Tori as cotton filled her ears. She couldn't think about anything else but the image attached to the text-let alone be a part of a conversation, so you left. Gave Robbie a flimsy excuse about having to go the bathroom before filling out the door and letting it close gently behind you. You'd gone to find the restroom but changed your mind when you see some kid approaching people with flyers about an exhibition the school was hosting, he was setup right by the girl's bathroom entrance. So, you left to find some other place to recollect your thoughts.

By the time you finally stop walking and settle under some weird statue, class is already out, and you've got multiple texts from Robbie asking if 'you fell in' and if 'you needed him to come help you out'. You frowned at that last one, Robbie had become less award after high school, but he still had his moments. Cat had sent her a few dozen texts about missing her and a bunch of other random things. It was radio silence from Beck, and Andre had sent her an invitation to mix some music at his pad in a few hours. Tori sighed and shut down her phone, she just wanted some time to adjust to being back, to being around her friends even. She knows they're just trying to make things as normal as they were before she dropped off the face of the Earth, but it feels wrong, and she knows they deserve an explanation, she just isn't ready to give them one yet.

Looking around she notices that she's wandered quite a ways away from her classroom, and her typical roaming area on campus. She's apart of the arts division as a singer of course but has never actually _been_ to the campuses' fine arts department. The statue she'd sat by has got this weird structure to it, it's very…abstract Tori believes is the word, it's a mix of hard angles and soft curves, with a hole about the size of her face, off centered through it. Curious, Tori sits up and slowly peaks through the statue's hole, and on the opposing side of her vantage point, she spots a piercing set of green eyes.

Tori blinks.

Before she can retract her face from the hole and melt behind the statue in embarrassment, the girl -who had a book of sorts situated in her lap – slams it shut and makes her quickly towards Tori. Worried the girl was gonna yell at her or something, Tori moves to retract her face from the sculpture, only to find herself stuck. She braces her hands against the statue, readying herself to push but stops herself as the girl squats down in front of the statue, and comes face to face with her.

"Admiring the art, are you?"

"Yes, I just…wanted to get a better look?"

"I can understand that, its great to see that some of the students still respect the deeply philosophical nature of art. I had no idea this was an interactive installation though, and I've been here for a year now!" The girl shouts seemingly very bothered by this revelation. She scoots forward, nose brushing Tori's before she hastily pulls back, "ah, would you mind if I gave it a go?"

Tori blinks.

She pushes against the statue, hoping to subtly free herself before the girl becomes suspicious; she fails. She sighs, "I would love to, its just that- see I've got this paper due soon…and I gotta get real up close and personal with this erhm-…"

"-installation,"

"Yes that." Tori braces her hands again and gives a slight push. The girl is still awfully close and looks too amused at Tori's predicament.

"You're stuck aren't you," she states.

"No, I…yes I'm stuck." Tori says in defeat.

The girl tosses her head back and gives a throaty laugh, black hair gracefully following the tilt of her head and settling at the base of her throat. Tori has half a mind to get upset at the stranger for ignoring her plea for help, but she spots blotches of color on her forearm as the girl reaches in her back pocket for her something and a tingle starts at the back of her brain because she _recognizes_ those colors from somewhere. Distracted and still stuck, the girl snaps a pic of Tori and tucks her phone back into the safety of her jeans, before placing a hand on her forehead and giving a hard push. Tori's face pops out from the hole and she falls back with all the grace of a fawn before landing on the ground.

Tori all but jumps from the ground to thank the stranger for her help and maybe get her name, but she gets up and sees that the girl is gone. All that is left to prove that their interaction has been _real_ and not a figment of Tori's crumbling mind, was a sticky not with the words hotel, uniform, NATO and a number "-2". Tori stares at the note, wondering what it could possibly mean before she's pulled out of her reverie by her blaring ringtone. She checks the caller ID, it's Andre. Checking the time, she yelps as she sees that she is supposed to meet up with him in like-20minutes, and he lives off campus with his Grandma, she scrambles to gather her stuff and runs off in the direction she came. She only looks back at the statue a few times.

By the time she gets to Andre's she still can't shake images of dark hair and green eyes, the column of girl's throat as she laughed, and more importantly the weird code she gave her.

Tori doesn't remember the splotches of color cast across the girl's forearm's or that her lungs were filling with oxygen the whole time.

"Hey Toray!" Andre shouts after answering the door. He gathers the girl in a big hug, warm and tight, as he drags her inside. "I know it's your first day back and your probably overwhelmed, but I've got some new music from this summer that I've been dying to get your opinion on", he says. Tori smiles, and tells him 'sure', it's easy being like this with Andre. He's never been the type to pester people with questions, he was the never the type to pester in general, his easygoing and chill attitude is just what Tori needs right about now. Anything to take her mind off the text from earlier as well as the mystery girl. They settle into an easy and comfortable silence, only broken by the playing of Andre's music and the soft suggestions given by Tori. They get through about 2 songs, having only changed a few lyrics, before Tori's mouth develops a brain of its own and breaks the silence they're in, "thank you for this Andre. I know things haven't been…easy but-," she wets her lips and fixates her gaze on the keyboard.

He places a gentle hand on her shoulder, silent and steady as always, comfortable with her continuing on and spilling her secrets or going back to playing music. She looks at him, and opts for the coward's way out, "-but I never wanted to close you out. I'm sorry for that" she says.

He smiles, its tight, less out of irritation with Tori's obvious lie but more out of his sadness for not being able to fully be there for his best friend. Gently he pats her shoulder, "its no thang, you know I've got you," Tori smiles and looks away from him and back at the keyboard," yeah, I know."

Nights fallen before she knows it and she sullenly wishes Andre a goodnight with promises of hanging out soon before she jumps in her car and makes her way home.

The house is quiet despite being full of all her family members. She makes her way inside and goes straight to the kitchen and heats up what's left from dinner, as she waits she tries to ignore the looks her parents keep tossing her way. David and Holly share a look, silently urging the other to speak to their daughter, Their interrupted by a piercing screech from the second floor.

"MOOOOOMMMM! It's in my _**EYES!",**_ yells the oldest of the Vega sisters. Tori rolls her eyes as her mom's face lights up at her escape route and she takes off up the stairs, "just a sec Trina!". She casts one last look at David on her way up that says ' _fix this!'_ before disappearing towards the sound of Trina's groaning. Her father pauses his movie and raises up off the couch to find Tori in the kitchen, he fiddles with the waist of jeans, adjusting the belt in his nervousness as he approaches his little angel. He doesn't know what to make of the situation, he knows he's _angry_ and _disappointed_ at both Tori and the guilty party, but he knows this tension in the house is partly his fault. He just, doesn't know what to do.

"Mija," he starts, "I think we should talk about this. Talk about you…"

Tori looks up slowly from her meal, an unpleasant frown marring her expression," talk? I don't think we need to _talk,_ you've done enough of that for the both of us _Papi."_

David's face darkens with a frown to match Tori's own, his parents had always told him how much Tori took after him, he can see it in the frown lines that have become more apparent on her face in these past few months.

"I wouldn't have had to talk if _you_ would have listened! Tori- I warned you about this boy-"

"Don't." She mumbles.

"Ryder should have never, I should have never- ", David starts.

" _Please..._ " She chokes out. Tears are gathering in her eyes and her gaze is fixed intensely on the plate in front of her which David is glad for, he doesn't think he could stand to see her pain in its entirety right now. He sighs and leans down to kiss the crown of her head before tiredly heading upstairs. Tori finishes her meal in silence and pretends that she doesn't feel the vibration of her phone with a new message.

Tori heads up to her room and presses the sticky note tight against her bathroom mirror before falling into bed, she isn't in the mood for any more human interaction tonight, so she settles on getting out a book and reading until she dozes off. Tonight, she dreams of flashes of black and green, colors working together to make each other vibrant against the hazy backdrop of her dreamscape.

The next morning, Tori slowly wakes up to the smell of breakfast being cooked in the kitchen. _That's odd,_ she thinks, _Mom usually doesn't cook for everyone and Dad should be heading to his morning patrol by now._ She reaches for her phone to check the time, only to find that the screen is black and unresponsive to her taping fingers, sighing, she reaches down by her nightstand and plugs the device in before flopping backwards into bed. Tori laid in bed, that ever-present feeling of hopelessness weighing heavy on her chest as show wondered what to do today. Anything to take her mind of everything going wrong in her life would be a welcome distraction, she didn't feel like going out, and playing hostess to the gang didn't seem like too bright of an idea either. She was pulled from her thoughts by a soft knock at her door.

"Tori honey, your father and I made some breakfast, are you hungry?"

Tori stared at the door with an unreadable expression on her face, "no, I think I'll pass. Thanks mom." She said. Holly was silent on the other side of the door and Tori thought she had walked away before she spoke again.

"Oh well that's alright sweetie…We were thinking of catching a movie today-just trying to get some fresh air- and I think it be wonderful if you'd join us- "

"No, I think I'll pass on that too. I've got a…gotta lot of work to catch up on so I'm good."

Holly's response was a barely heard sigh and the soft sound of her receding footsteps. Now that she'd bailed on family plans, she might as well try and get some work done. She reached for her bag only to realize that she didn't know what she had to do, what with skipping the last half of class and all. Her phone was still dead, so she booted up her laptop and sent her professor a quick email about her absence and shot Robbie a message asking about what she missed as well. While she waited for their response, she made her way to the bathroom to make herself at least somewhat presentable should she decide to drag herself outside today when she caught sight of the strange sticky note.

Hotel. Uniform. NATO. -2.

 _Was it some kind of code? It had to be, she'd never met a girl named 'Hotel Uniform' before, no one's parents where that cruel_ she thought. Then there was the issue with the -2, Tori wondered what it meant and pulled the note off the mirror as she settled back at her desk, " _well, lets try and crack this bad boy",_ she said to herself. Tori tried matching the letters up 2 spaces forwards and backwards in the alphabet but the words _'UWRM'_ , _'fmrcj'_ , and _'slgdmpk'_ couldn't be right. Neither would the other variations she came up with. Frustrated she gave up and tossed away the scrap paper she had littered with possible solutions to the code.

Her laptop dinged with a notification and a heavy sense of dread fell over her before she seen that it was just Robbie getting back to her. Relieved she clicked on his chat tab to see what his response was.

 **RobbieRoo-** _Yeah you didn't miss too much, it's just a lecture class after all but we're supposed to choose a book from a list he handed out and be ready with an analysis on the first 5 chapters by next week._

 _We're going to write a paper on the book, so this first assignment will help you create a thesis or basis for your paper. I can give you a hand if you need it?_

 _Were you alright all on your own yesterday? You never got back to me and Cat said she hasn't heard from you either._

 _ **Tori Vega**_ _ **-**_ _Thxs Robbie. I think I'll be fine_

 _Already emailed the proff._

 _Hey do you know anything about codes?_

 _ **RobbieRoo-**_ _Well of course I do! Do you have something you want to put in code or?_

Tori looked back at the note, an overwhelming sense of excitement settling in her stomach at the prospect of finally figuring out the message behind the mystery girl's clue.

 **Tori Vega-** _No nothing like that, I've got this weird assignment in another class, would you happen to know what this means? 'NATO, Hotel Uniform -2' ?_

 _I'm at a loss, I've been rearranging letters and screwing around with the alphabet all morning. But the words never seem to make sense._

Tori waited with bated breath as Robbie's typing bubbles came up and disappeared, she waited and waited and…waited. But nothing. She refreshed her page only to see that Robbie had gone offline. Tori groaned and stood from her seat, stretching her limbs and heading to her door, _I'll keep myself busy until he responds, best not to worry about what I can't help,_ she thought. She peaked her head out and heard no noise from down stairs and assumed the coast was all clear as she walked out, snagging her phone off the charger on her way out.

She made herself a bowl of fruityloops and plopped down in front of the T.V., watching whatever was on and switching to something else during commercial breaks. Tori polished her breakfast and settled in more comfortable to the couch.

Her phone vibrated.

 _A message,_ she thought, she glanced at the phone and wondered what her luck was looking like. Would she check her messages to find a response from Robbie, her professor, or would she be greeted by the same vacant ID and a haunting picture? Figuring today was already going to be a shitty day she took her chances and grabbed her phone, unlocking it and swiping through her notifications. As luck would have it, the message was from Robbie, apparently his computer had crashed, and he had to look for his phone right before he could answer Tori's burning question. She chuckled to herself, _we've been telling Robbie to upgrade his system for years now, the old thing keeps crashing on him but he's too cheap to shell out cash for a newer model,_ she thought.

She waited for his next message after sending him an "It's all good, did you find anything on the code or did your dinosaur of a computer wipe your memory again?" she jested. His response was a frowny face and then a string of messages.

 **RobbieRoo-** _Well about the code_

 _For once, NATO isn't a word it's a military code system which you should've noticed because it was in all caps unlike the rest of the words, it was formatted like an acronym_

 _The rest of the words being capitalized like that of a proper noun or a name. But since there's only two words formatted like that, they're probably initials._

 _I assume the -2 is meant to move down the alphabet to get the true words, which would be Juliet for Hotel and Whiskey for Uniform._

 **ToriVega-** Robbie get on with it!

 **RobbieRoo-** No need to get your knickers in a knot Toray

Anyways, the initials are just the first letter of the words. Your code simply reads as….

J.W.


End file.
